Supporting Communities Impacted by TB and Sustaining Meaningful Engagement in National TB Elimination Efforts

Written by Katie Robertson - Public Relations Account Executive

Fighting tuberculosis (TB) in affected communities requires more than just the right technology and resources. It also requires the cooperation of civil society and local community members to ensure successful deployment of those innovative technologies and therapies. Without their efforts to generate demand, raise awareness, educate, build trust and mobilize communities for screening, even the best technologies could not come close to living up to their life-saving potential.

Understanding this need for partnership and collaboration with local entities has been a driving force in MinXray’s approach to global health initiatives.

“You need the equipment, which MinXray supplies; you need the skilled operators of the equipment, which Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH funds and implementing partners around the world deliver; and you need people to show up for screening, which affected communities themselves play a critical role in making happen. Community members will go door to door to raise awareness while educating and mobilizing their peers to show up for screenings. This group effort enables our systems to screen hundreds of people in a day rather than say dozens, yet the Challenge Facility for Civil Society, the mechanism that supports this work is now facing a large funding gap,” said Michael Cairnie, director of global sales at MinXray.

On October 30, 2025, at the Stop TB Partnership Board Meeting in Manila, Philippines, MinXray announced a financial contribution to the Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS). CFCS invests in supporting local community organizations and people affected by TB to engage meaningfully in national TB programs and responses. Through its contribution, MinXray hopes to further enable the goal of this program, which is to ultimately make TB elimination efforts more people-centered and effective in achieving global targets.

CFCS and its grantees improve health outcomes through facilitating faster and easier access to diagnostics, encouraging people to stick to their treatment plans, pushing authorities to adopt new tools faster and more. Without these advocates placed strategically through local, regional, national and global positions, much of this progress would be slowed and the ability for manufacturers to evolve with changing user needs would be significantly hindered.

“The impact of funding gaps in this mechanism will not just be felt at the local community level. It also has broader cultural, technological and financial implications.  Community-led monitoring provides us with direct feedback from implementers and end users that we can channel back into improving products and performance,” said Dr. Robyn Waite, marketing and strategic partnership coordinator at MinXray.

In addition to its own contributions and partnership with CFCS, MinXray encourages other global partners to do the same.

“Partnerships like this one with MinXray show what true collaboration looks like — when innovation and private sector meet community. Ending TB requires not only technology and tools, but also trust, compassion and people power. By investing in communities, including through the Challenge Facility for Civil Society, our partners are recognizing the catalytic nature of the CFCS movement and investing directly in those making the end of TB possible” said Dr. Lucica Ditiu - executive director of the Stop TB Partnership - host of CFCS.

When the government, private sector and community work together, we can make meaningful steps to end TB. A modest investment can go a long way in making sure those who are most impacted have the resources they need to guide and participate in the fight to drive greater impact.